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A Biblical Worldview
Many people today feel like they are adrift in a deep and expansive sea of competing worldviews. They are searching for truth and meaning for their lives. Too often, however, they ignore the greatest treasure they have access to for building their own worldview — the Bible.
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The Supremacy of Scripture
High up on the list of some of my life’s greatest ministry privileges has been the opportunity to serve at Placerita Bible Church for twenty-four years as a lay elder. During that time I have been allowed to share the pulpit ministry many times.
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Israel Research Trip, #16
Due to the amount of information I desired to communicate about Beth-shean / Scythopolis, this site required two posts. Post #15 covered Old Testament Beth-Shean and this post covers New Testament Scythopolis.
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Israel Research Trip, Post #14
Caesarea Philippi / Banias Continuing our visits to the jewels of northern Israel, we come to Caesarea Philippi (known also as Banias/Banyas and Paneas) on the shoulder of Mt. Hermon east of Tel Dan along highway 99.
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Israel Research Trip, Post #11
Chorazin Jerome Murphy-O’Connor refers to Chorazin as “Capernaum with a view.”[1] The city sat about two miles north of Capernaum at a site known as Khirbet Karazeh (or, Karraza), with which C. W. M. Van de Velde identified Chorazin (Korazim) in the 1850s.
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Israel Research Trip, Post #10
Capernaum The city of Capernaum in Galilee gained its greatest attribute when Jesus chose it as the location of His residence after leaving His boyhood home in Nazareth.
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Israel Research Trip, Post #9
Magdala For myself personally, Magdala provided a new opportunity to visit a site I had not previously visited. I was enthralled with the archaeological finds at this location and enjoyed walking through the excavations.
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Israel Research Trip, Post #8
Sepphoris Excavations at Sepphoris (4 miles north of Nazareth) have uncovered beautiful mosaics (see picture above of the mosaic in a Roman villa triclinium; photo by Todd Bolen, Nov 1, 2006; Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, vol. 1, 2012).
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In Memoriam: Darrell Victor Beddoe, 1941–2020
Families travel life’s pathways experiencing highs and lows, mountains and valleys. Through the journey, God knits us together, producing many blessed experiences and memories.
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Israel Research Trip, Post #7
Nazareth Most of my posts in this series up to this point have involved sites more related to the Old Testament than to the New Testament. The New Testament alone specifically mentions the town of Nazareth. The town sits about 20 miles east of the Mediterranean Sea and about 15 miles west of the Sea
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Israel Research Trip, Post #4
Caesarea Maritima / Caesarea Palestina Intertestamental Period In the 3rd century BC the Persians gave the area to the Phoenicians who built a small anchorage here and named it Strato’s Tower.
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Jordan Research Trip, Post #11
This final post reporting on my research trip to Jordan includes two sites we visited on our first day. I’ve done so in order to tie together some of the significance aspects of our visit to Gerasa and our later examination of sites in Israel. Elijah’s Hill / Tell Elias In order to identify sites
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Jordan Research Trip, Post #10
Where should we expect to find the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah? I already addressed this matter in part in Post #9 about Lot’s Cave in the vicinity of Zoar. In that post I used the evidence of the biblical text, of toponomy (linguistics of place names), and the Medeba Map. In addition, we
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Jordan Research Trip, Post #8
Petra Match me such a marvel save in Eastern clime, a rose-red city half as old as time. — John William Burgon Biblical Connections Preparing for a tour of Petra provides an opportunity to think about its biblical connections.
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Jordan Research Trip, Post #4
Rabbah Ammon / Amman Citadel Today Amman serves as the capital of the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan. In ancient times it was known as Rabbah of the Ammonites. In the Hellenistic and Roman periods the city was named Philadelphia (honoring Ptolemy II Philadelphos, ruler of Egypt 285–247 BC).
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The Synoptic Gospels’ Inerrancy: When Did Jesus Curse the Fig Tree?
This apparent contradiction of the timing of the events involved Jesus’ cleansing the Temple and cursing the fig tree. Matthew 21:12–19 reports that Jesus cursed the fig tree on the day following His cleansing of the Temple. However, Mark 11:12–24 appears to indicate that Jesus left Bethany (v.
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Understanding Bible Translation: Excerpt & Endorsement
“Bible translation is the spark that kindled the Reformation. Men like William Tyndale gave their lives to ensure that people had access to Scripture in their own languages.
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Daniel 11—Amazing Prophetic Accuracy
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself attributed the book of Daniel to the prophet bearing that name (cf. Matthew 24:15). The Book of Daniel itself indicates that Daniel was the author (“I, Daniel,” 8:1).
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The Synoptic Gospels’ Inerrancy: Entering or Leaving Jericho?
Earlier we discussed whether Jesus healed one man or two men on His journey between Jericho and Jerusalem (Matthew 20:29–34; Mark 10:46–52; Luke 18:35–43). At least one additional problem presents itself in these three passages. Luke 18:35 says that Jesus was approaching (or, entering) Jericho.
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The Synoptic Gospels’ Inerrancy: What Did Peter Say?
The synoptic Gospels seem to put different words into Peter’s mouth when he makes his statement regarding the identity of Jesus.
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The Synoptic Gospels’ Inerrancy: How Many Walking Sticks?
In ancient Israel people often used the Persian reed (Arundo donax—a tall reed growing up to eighteen feet or more high; also known as giant cane) for a walking stick.
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The Synoptic Gospels’ Inerrancy: How Many People?
Let’s return to the synoptic Gospels’ reporting of the healing of the demon-possessed men (or man?) from Gadara (Matthew 8:28–34; Mark 5:1–20; Luke 8:26–39). We dealt with the apparent geographical contradiction in our first post. At least one more problem exists when we compare these passages.
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The Synoptic Gospels’ Inerrancy: Misrepresentation of Persons
Matthew 8:5–13 reports the miracle of Jesus healing a Roman centurion’s servant. Matthew seems to say the centurion himself approached Jesus with the request. Luke 7:1–10, however, speaks only of some Jewish leaders coming to Jesus with the centurion’s request.
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The Synoptic Gospels’ Inerrancy: Authors’ Choices
Both God and men play a role in the production of Scripture. We speak of that factor as the confluent nature of Scripture. Such confluency allows for the human authors to differ in vocabulary, phraseology, literary style, and purposes. God chose each writer for the purpose and means He had in mind.
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The Synoptic Gospels’ Inerrancy: Translation Differences
Sometimes an apparent contradiction arises from a translation, not from the text in its original language. Matthew 16:13 in the King James Version (KJV) reads, “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, . .
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The Synoptic Gospels’ Inerrancy: Geographical Realities
Four Gospels, four viewpoints—do they lead to inconsistency in their testimony concerning the words and deeds of Jesus Christ? Apart from all of their similarities, what should readers do when they find apparent contradictions?
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Peace-Loving Believers in an Age of Violence, Part 3 (Final)
Three fairly significant biblical examples appear to support a believer’s participation in the military: [1] Jesus’s approval of a king who waged war against wicked people (Matthew 21:33–41). In Luke 3:14 John did not command them to resign from military service, but to be conten
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Peace-Loving Believers in an Age of Violence, Part 2
Just war advocates normally base their stance upon passages revealing the divine origin and approval of government and its functions. Romans 13:1–7 forms the anchoring text for developing their view of governmental authority in the lives of Christians. The apostle Paul represents
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Peace-Loving Believers in an Age of Violence, Part 1
Scripture disallows seeking peace at any price. Some apologists argue that even believers must draw the line somewhere to stand up to the forces of evil. Wherever one stands, Christians need to be pro-active. As Friesen, Langan, and Stassen observe in their introduction to Just P
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My Recommendations: Book of the Week, September 24
Photo Companion to the Bible: The Gospels Photo Companion to the Bible: The Gospels (DVD from BiblePlaces.com) offers its users more than 10,000 PowerPoint slides illustrating the four Gospels verse by verse. The photographs represent some of the collections of Dr. Todd Bolen, Dr.
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My Recommendations: Books of the Week, September 17 — Drs. Thomas & Toussaint
On September 5 Dr. Stanley D. Toussaint entered glory and the following day Dr. Robert L. Thomas went to heaven as well. Interestingly, both men were born in 1928 (Dr. Toussaint in Minnesota and Dr. Thomas in Georgia).
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When God Takes a Faithful Servant Suddenly and Unexpectedly
Pastor Jim Barrick (Feb. 9, 1948 – Aug. 11, 2017) As my wife and I were boarding our flight from Gatwick Airport in London my cell phone buzzed. It was not a good time to answer it and I knew if it were important, the call would be repeated when we landed in California. Sure enou
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Blessing–Even in Affliction
Sometimes our lives seem as fragile as a bluebell clinging to its perch on an ancient chapel’s stone wall. The prophet Jeremiah caught the deep emotional pain disobedient Jerusalem must endure as the Lord brings upon her the covenant curses as discipline.
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My Recommendations: Book of the Week, July 23
In yet another superb ebook, Michael Vlach tackles the issues involved in determining how the New Testament writers use the Old Testament. How Does the New Testament Use the Old Testament?: A Survey of the Major Views examines seven major viewpoints.
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Identifying the imperatives in Biblical Narratives
Narratives occupy a large portion of the Bible, whether its pages record the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph or the wanderings of Israel in the wilderness, or the events surrounding the judges and kings of Israel, or the stories of Ruth or Esther.
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Identifying the Imperatives in Biblical Narratives
Narratives occupy a large portion of the Bible, whether its pages record the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph or the wanderings of Israel in the wilderness, or the events surrounding the judges and kings of Israel, or the stories of Ruth or Esther.
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Implications or Applications?: Preaching Biblical Narratives
Some preachers produce abundant applications (or, implications?) for their congregations from biblical narratives, whether they are Old Testament historical narratives like Judges 4 or New Testament Gospel narratives like Mark 3. Other preachers insist they should offer only theo
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Pentecost Meditation: The Significance of Christ’s Ascensions
Bible readers often pick up on the apparent fact that Jesus ascended more than one time into heaven following His resurrection. Indeed, there appear to be three different ascensions, each accomplishing different purposes.
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How much seminary training does a missionary need?
An old pastors’ adage says, “Those who can’t, go; those who can’t go, teach”—the shortened aphorism for “Those who can’t preach , go to the mission field ; those who can’t go to the mission field , teach.” Whoever created this useless and unbiblical proverb deserves appointment a
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What will happen on September 23, 2017?
Dawn breaks on Saturday, September 23, 2017 . . . then what? Some people will spend the entire day looking upward, awaiting the return of Jesus Christ. Why?
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Hebrew Whiteboard Update: Psalm 5 Complete
The final two verses of Psalm 5 (vv. 12-13, Hebrew verse numbering) close out the psalm on a very high note. It expresses a climactic crescendo of rejoicing, a six-fold emphasis centering upon Yahweh Himself, and a series of parallels with the first stanza of the psalm (vv.
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The Resurrection of Christ and Missions
Share From the start of our Christian faith, we all have received the testimony of Matthew’s Gospel regarding the resurrected Lord’s appearance to His disciples in Galilee where they met with Him on the mountain to which He had instructed them to go (Matthew 28:16). At that time
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Biblical Genealogies: Begetting a Devotional Reading
What do you do when you come to the book of 1 Chronicles in your Bible reading? Skip?–Jump over genealogies without reading. Skim?–Read the inserted headings, but not the text. Scavenge?–Read only the narrative inserts, like the one about Jabez. Squirm?–Read with distinct discomfort.
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Biblical Genealogies: Begetting a Devotional Reading
You’ve heard it and maybe even said it yourself, “When I get to a genealogy in my Bible reading, I just skip it.” Genealogies (lists of names telling who is related to whom) can be boring and intimidating—especially if you have to read all those hard-to-pronounce names aloud for
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What Books Do You Recommend Most Highly?–Part 2
As I continue to populate my list of books I most highly recommend, I move now to the New Testament commentaries. See What Books Do You Recommend Most Highly? (click on that title–it is a link that will take you to that first post) for the start of the list and the identification of the Old
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Works, Words, and Wisdom–Divine and Human
Works, Words, and Wisdom—Divine and Human Psalm 111 by William D. Barrick Commencement Address—Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary May 12, 2016 Introduction A professor had just finished the final lecture for his introductory course in philosophy.
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Another Off-Site Blog Worth Reading
In an effort to expand my contributions in the blogosphere, I accepted an invitation to submit an essay to another great biblical and theological website: “Parking Space 23.” My first contribution is “Continuity: Old Testament Truth in New Testament Clothing.” The continuity that exists between the…
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Continuity: Old Testament Truth in New Testament Clothing
Share One of the benefits of getting older consists of gaining perspective, being able to put the past into its proper place in order to better understand the present. Fifty-four years of studying the Bible also has its benefits—primarily in more clearly understanding the continu